Biography
A singer of notable but overlooked skill, Hager joined forces with the Hot Tots to lay down no fewer than four vigorous tracks for North Carolina’s Oak Records. In addition to his commanding vocals and the capable backing of his group, he proved an unusually inventive presence in rockabilly. Although the musicians almost certainly drew on country backgrounds as individuals, they readily wove in older devices such as steel guitar and introduced Caribbean rhythmic patterns behind certain numbers, among them “Be Bop Boogie,” while keeping the raw, spontaneous rockabilly character intact. Live, Hager and the Hot Tots must have made a memorable impression. Oak Records released two consecutive singles by Hager around 1957; these sides were later acquired by Ivin Ballen’s Gotham label in Philadelphia, yet neither company achieved national or even regional success with the material. Wider attention would have suited work that instead remained largely forgotten. In 1990 Collectables included four of Hager’s recordings—some of them outtakes—on the multi-artist set Be Bop Boogie, a collection well worth locating.